Where'd your screen name come from?

My SN is actually the second half of the name I am supposed to have. I was supposed to be name Annalise, but mom was probably drugged up and gave me her middle name instead (Alicia) but people in my family who know me know the story call me Annalise or Lise, but I like Lise so I think it's cool. The 441, well those were random numbers I threw on there for the hell of it.

Sometimes you stand on the edge of a cliff and you jump. You jump because you're tired of being scared. Sometimes you jump just to feel the fall

as a student and practitioner of wicca and witchcraft for most of my life, my patron goddessess are the Muses, goddesses of divine inspiration. i work with them in that abstract but identify more with the Greek concept, but i do not limit myself to just one. i am also a girl who loves to dance in any contex, so i am The Dancing Muse :)

I use different sign ons for different forums depending on what the forum is, which usually is political/activist, and

(also have a pen name I use for my own work that is my middle name (decided to use it because, why exactly do we have middle names if we never use them, and she was just like, so lonely for 30 something year, invisible, so decided, you know, by damn, time to bring her out and tell the world she's exists, so my work I use my middle name and initials of my mother's last name, father's last name -- I do not use my husband's last name on my work because I do not want my work to be overshadowed by his name -- which has often been the case for married women, etc).

Now my pen name for my work is personal, but on forums, I choose names of people who inspire me, and they are always people (mainly women) who have defined for themselves and who've been revolutionary, pushed the limits or who did not conform to the status quo, even challenged it, etc. I focus mostly on women in political and social movements that are not well known or who've been overshadowed by famous men, especially in the polemic, but also in the world of art, literature, humanitarianism, and so forth.

So, of course, Kahloeyes is a tribute to Frida Kahlo, Revolutionary, artist. I emphasize Revolutionary because she is often known for her marriage to Diago Rivera (artist, communist) and her many lovers, both male and female, her art, and very rarely is her commitment to revolution and politics focused on and if mentioned its only a brief statement.

In fact, its common, especially in the imagery of Hollywood, and even in politics, and the art world, etc, that the focus on women is not their work so much as it is their love lives, particularly if the women are revolutionary, intellectual, and/or political and who lead lives that were in their time, by their own standards and not those of society.

Frida's work is genius, there is no other word really that I would describe it as, because her art touches on the personal, pain, longing, political, patriarchy, nationalism, love, bisexuality, etc. Her commitment to radical change, especially against imperialism and colonization (Mexico) was her passion and her dedication to her work (both artistic and political) while dealing with her own personal pain, both physical and mental, is legendary.

I chose Kahloeyes for this forum, because of two paintings, one, "The Two Frida's" and the other, "Marxism Heals the Sick". The Two Frida's, for me personally, from subjective, represents the two selves that are in conflict but at times embrace (such as my evolution and embracing my bisexuality and both masculine and feminine characteristics which in the past I struggled with) and I thought it would be a good choice for this forum....

and the Marxism Heals the Sick, is her vision (in the painting) of how she envisioned the emancipation of Mexico [the world too] and the poor, oppressed, isolated, etc., how she saw the forces that perpetuated racism, imperialism, pillaging, exploitation, and so forth and in the painting she is also depicting her own source of healing that she received through her work, both artistic and political. Such as, one can endure much pain and yet, if one looks outside of one's self and works to aid in healing and freeing of others from their pain, that brings healing to the soul (well, not such a great critique, its late but I think you can understand what I'm saying here).

I like to study about women (men too) we don't hear or read much about, particularly women in other countries and in other epochs and whose contributions have sadly been forgotten. While Frida is somewhat known due to the movie that Salma Hayek not only played the role of Frida but put up the money for the film (I've heard its because no one in Hollywood was interested, go figure) and a movie that I still haven't seen yet,

there are numerous other women artists, political writers, revolutionaries, poets, etc., that if you didn't dig through archives, journals, history of other nations, etc., you'd probably never hear of them because they are not recognized in the mainstream movements today.

For example, how many of you have heard of Che? Sure, we all have, but now, how many of you have heard of Tamara Bunke?

Just that example alone speaks volumes...and she is one of hundreds of women.

"Both the oppressed classes, women and the immediate producers, must understand that their emancipation will come from themselves. Women will find allies in the better sort of men, But the one has nothing to hope from man as a whole" Eleanor Marx

Slightly off topic, but... In response to the previous comment about middle names not being used, I actually mine a fair amount of time. I really like it, and would almost prefer going by my first and middle names rather than by my first and husband's last name. I've had numerous last names through out my life (through childhood I had 2 different ones; marraige has given me 3 different ones), but my first and middle names have never changed. for me, they represent the core of who i am.

Back to topic, on some forums, I go by "GA Chick". It's also the core of who I am. No matter what state or country I live in, I will always be Ami Denise -- the Georgia Chick!

One should no more deplore homosexuality than left-handedness. ~Towards a Quaker View of Sex, 1964

mines kinda depressing, although im not really a drepressive person..we all have our down days tho...anyways...my s/n meant to me that i was alone...after being left on my ten month anniversary..ouch..yea, it still hurts...but we all have our pains in life...alonenow0729 also meant to me that although being alone, maybe it meant there was someone else, someone better...tho i have yet to find Anyone else...im still holding hope... oh ya, and the 0729 is my bday..kinda cheezy, but..eh, it works hehe....

~lizard

I am not a pretty girl, that is not what i do...I am not an angry girl, everytime i say something they find hard to hear, they chalk it up to my anger and never to their own fear...

I chose this screen name because that is what is most important to me about an individual. It isn't he rhair, or her eyes..or how thin or plump she is..it is her heart...her capacity for love......ifthat is large..then I will find the outer beauty....we all get older..our looks fade..we go through all manner of physical and emotional changes, and hopefully we grow along the way. as long as a woman's capacity to give and recieve love is large...I can deal with all the ravages of time on her body (She's certainly gonna have ta put up with mine LOL)

Pretty simple really...You know how the color yellow-orange is more yellow than orange? Although some would beg to differ, I am more grrl than boi. I used to be headgrrl. Minds out of the gutter, it meant the girl in charge, but I needed a change, so grrlboi it is.

I try not to care, I would lose my mind, running 'round the same thing time after time.